Of Fruitloops and Badgers
by Specter14
Summary: One-shot series that partners with my other fanfic, If Vlad Wasn't a Fruitloop. What would happen if Vlad wasn't a villain, but an ally and teacher to Danny? This story is a group of one-shots and drabbles that happen outside of IVWAF, such as revelation chapters and other things that don't stay consistant. No slash!
1. Innocent

**Hello and welcome to the first chapter of** **Of Fruitloops and Badgers** **! This is a partner fic to** **If Vlad Wasn't a Fruitloop** **, so if you haven't read that, I encourage you to go check it out! For those who are new to my fanfics, I'm experimenting with the idea of Vlad being a good guy who helps Danny, instead of being a villain. There will NOT be slash between them, I promise. Just an adorable father/son thing going on. xD**

 **This fic is for drabbles and one-shots that I don't want to include in the main story, for example, the halfa secret being revealed, an alternate ending to a chapter, or other things I want to write about that don't stay consistent with IVWAF.**

 **Also, I recently made a DeviantArt account,** **PhantomS14** **, where I'm posting stuff for this series I'm doing, and other DP stuff. So you can look that up if you want, and if anyone watches me I'll watch them back!**

 **Finally, here's the first chapter,** **Innocent** **, after the song by Taylor Swift. I'm going to try to make each of the chapter titles songs that correspond/relate to the chapter. We'll see how that works out. ;)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Danny Phantom, but I own the plot. The song Innocent belongs to Taylor Swift.**

* * *

 **Innocent**

Danny laid his throbbing head down on his cool, comfortable desk, as Mr. Lancer's voice droned in the background. He had been up pretty late fighting ghosts the night before, so he had gotten only an hour or two of sleep. He could barely even keep his eyes open.

He started drifting off to the lulling sound of his teacher's lecture, and the normal whispers and giggles in the typical high school classroom.

After what seemed like only a few seconds, he was aware of something or someone directly behind him. Hands grabbed his shoulders roughly, and forgetting where he was, Danny whipped around and shot a blast of green energy at whatever had startled him.

A loud, cracking thud sounded across the room. The younger halfa froze in his turned around position, and stared blankly at the scene in front of him. The room was deadly silent, and he was sure that his slow heartbeat could be heard by everyone.

After those few seconds of pristine, dreamy silence and stillness, the room buzzed to life. Screams and shouting filled the air. Danny sat there blankly, still numb and emotionless. He vaguely remembered shooting energy at someone or something... He looked from his outstretched hand to the wall in front of it.

A still body lay crumpled by the white, painted brick wall.

He heard someone calling his name, and then a different voice doing the same. He felt gentle taps on his shoulder and arm, but didn't respond. He felt as if he had plunged into an ocean of syrup, and couldn't move or breathe, just observe everything around him.

Some high-schoolers backed away to the opposite side of the room, while some surrounded the body. The room was filled with panicked conversation and sobbing, but Danny couldn't hear anything over the sound of the thudding in his chest.

Once the ghost boy could finally move again, his legs were tangled up with each other as he struggled to get out of his chair. Knowing he was already exposed anyway, he turned intangible and staggered to the back of the classroom, going right through a few people along the way. The room grew silent again as everyone around him backed away, like he had a force field around his body.

Some blood stained the once-white bricks.

"No... No... _No no no no no_!" He muttered, dropping onto his knees beside Dash, who lay there motionless, except for the very slight rise and fall of his chest. His shirt had a black blast mark in the middle, and a circular shape had been burned through to his skin.

"Dash! Dash, _no_!"

Panicked and shaking, Danny gently lifted the remains of the white shirt, and saw what was (at least) a second degree burn on the football player's chest.

"D-Danny," a feminine voice almost whispered, and a hand pulled gently on his arm, "Come on, just back up and-"

"No, no no no..." The ghost boy pulled his arm back, keeping his eyes trained on the unconscious boy in front of him. "Dash... _Dash_..."

More hands joined the other, pulling him back. Startled, Danny phased through them, followed by gasps from the numerous people watching.

" _Kid_ , move out of the way." Danny flinched at the deep, unfamiliar voice and looked up. A male paramedic stood there, looking down at the still blond boy on the floor. In all of the confusion and shock, someone had called 911. A team of firemen pulling a stretcher entered the classroom and progressed toward the back wall.

Danny watched with a mix of fascination and horror as Dashiel Baxter was laid on the stretcher and rolled away.

"Wait... _Wait_!" Danny called with a hoarse voice, flying through the air behind the emergency team. "I-I can help, I-"

Two sets of hands grabbed him and held him back. He struggled and squirmed in their firm hold.

"No, no! I-I can... I..." Tears rushed to his eyes and threatened to drip down his face, as he began to hyperventilate. "It's my fault, it's my fault, I'm sorry, I'm _sorry_ -" he wrapped his arms around his thin frame, looking down and letting his dark bangs hide his clenched eyes.

Sam and Tucker, who held the quivering boy in their arms, tried to comfort their friend, but their efforts were in vain.

"Mr. Fenton..." Lancer said hesitantly, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Come with me... You're not in trouble, I promise. Just come along..." Danny was led out of the room, back to a numb and shocked state. His two friends started to follow, but their teacher turned around briefly. "Would you two mind staying here, and calming everyone down?" The rest of the class were still standing in shocked silence. "I'm sure they have questions and whatnot..." Tucker nodded a little, reluctant to let his distressed friend go alone, but he knew that the other teenagers could be a problem, too, if rumors spread about the incident. Sam agreed without a word, and they prepared to explain to their class. Mr. Lancer continued out of the room with the dark haired boy in tow.

* * *

The two traveled slowly and silently through the school, Danny shaking and holding back strangled sobs. He knew he had hurt Dash, _badly_...

Before he knew it, they had reached the front office.

"You can sit down, Mr. Fenton..." Mr. Lancer said, lifting a hand to his chin and looking to Principal Ishiyama, unsure of what to say.

Danny slowly sat down on one of the chairs, and stared vacantly at the floor.

"I-I-I... Dash..." Danny struggled to form words. "He c-could be..." He gulped back the lump in his throat. "I d-didn't mean to-"

"We know you didn't mean to, Danny," Lancer said quietly. "I saw what happened; it was he who started this whole thing."

"He-he didn't _know_ ," Danny sobbed and brought his legs up onto the chair, hugging his knees. "It's all my f-fault..." His haunted ice blue eyes stared at nothing.

"Oh, it's not your fault, Danny." The school principal said, trying to soothe the boy.

"But it _is my fault_!" He said, his eyes glowing a radioactive green, startling the two adults. Green ecto-energy sparked around his hands. "It's all because of these _stupid powers_ , that I almost _killed Dash_!" His voice broke, and he shot intangibly through the glass window that framed the school's front yard. He gathered all his power, and blasted a nearby tree with it with an angry yell.

When the light died down, only a pile of black dust remained.

He returned inside absently and lowered back into his chair. The principal and teacher stared in shock at what had just happened.

"It was the tree, or this room..." Danny almost whispered, hugging his knees again, ashamed that he had almost lost control.

After some more uncomfortable silence, Principal Ishiyama spoke up quietly.

"Should we call your parents, to take you home?"

"No!" Danny yelled in surprise, looking at the adults in horror. That situation would have been the _worst_ way for them to find out...

The two adults looked at each other in confusion and astonishment at the outbreak.

"Please, no, they-they don't know..." He looked down and tried to explain further. "I'm just not sure how they would react..."

Flinching sympathetically at the boy's fear of his own parents, the woman in the room nodded. "Well, who're we going to call then?"

Danny sniffed and smiled the tiniest bit, forgetting about his depression for a moment. "Ghostbusters?"

"..."

"Too soon?" He couldn't help but giggle a little bit, before remembering the dire situation. "W-well _Vlad, my dad's friend... He knows..."_

* * *

Vlad Masters scowled as he left his meeting. It had not gone the way he had wanted it to...

He walked out of the office building, and turned right to go to the nearest alley, so he could transform and teleport back to his mansion.

Just then, a muffled sound came from his pocket. When he pulled out his cell phone, the song played even louder, causing the people passing by to look at Vlad strangely.

 _"If there's something strange... in the neighborhood... Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!"_

Vlad growled at the song choice; Danny must have changed his ringtone _again_. He answered the phone with an annoyed, " _What_?!"

"Ahem, excuse me, is this Mr. Vlad Masters?"

Vlad flinched internally for answering so rudely. "Yes, it is. I apologize."

"There has been an... _incident_... at Casper High School. Daniel Fenton was involved... He requested for us not to contact his parents, and provided your number instead."

Vlad's eyes widened. "I'll be right over." He hung up and took off running to the nearest inhabited corner, pushing people in his way to the side and ignoring their disgruntled yells and expressions. He had somewhere _important_ to be.

Within less than a minute, Vlad had teleported from the middle of Wisconsin to Illinois.

He hid behind a group of trees and changed back into a human. He walked towards the school, and into the front office.

The lady and man in the office stopped their hushed conversation, and looked at the billionaire in shock.

"Well that was fast, Mr. Masters..."

"Please call me Vlad. May I ask what happened?"

The bald man and the Asian-American met eyes nervously, hesitant to say anything.

"And, where is Daniel?"

"Oh, er, he's on the roof..." The lady said, before flinching at Vlad's surprised look.

The suited man's demeanor changed from curious to threatening with the blink of an eye. "How much do you know?"

"Enough." The man said flatly. "I am William Lancer, Mr. Fenton's homeroom teacher. This morning... I could tell Danny was exhausted. He was fast asleep only a few minutes after the morning bell. Close to the end of the hour, another one of my students, Dash Baxter, decided it was a good idea to sneak up behind Mr. Fenton and scare the _bejeepers_ out of him..."

Vlad blinked a few times, realizing with dread what had happened. " _Oh my_... Is the other boy alright?"

"At the hospital now... He was unresponsive from a concussion from the wall, and had pretty severe burns on his chest."

Vlad almost couldn't believe it. He couldn't imagine how Danny must have been feeling, with his obsession being _protecting_ people.

"But, he's _alive_ , and that's what matters." Mr. Lancer finished. "Danny was inconsolable for the first few minutes, but then he opened up a little..." He shakily motioned to what had been a tree, in front of the school. "He spared the office from that, which we're grateful for."

Vlad observed the pile of ash, mildly impressed that the ghost boy had enough sense to unleash his anger on something replaceable, like a tree. Though, the man figured that Danny's friend Sam wouldn't be too happy about that…

"I suppose I'll go see him now..." Vlad muttered, looking at the two humans in the room. He considered keeping up his act, and asking if they had a way up to the roof, but he shrugged and decided to get there the faster and more efficient way.

He turned intangible in his human form and grinned at the shock of the two school staff members, before flying up through the ceiling.

* * *

Vlad floated a few inches above the roof, looking around for the younger halfa. He caught a glimpse of black hair, and saw the boy leaning back against a petite building on the top of the school, possibly used for storage. Vlad lowered himself down beside the silent, raven-haired boy and followed his gaze up to the sky.

"Look, that one looks like... a cat riding a unicycle... holding a candy cane."

Danny chuckled bitterly. "Of course _you_ would think it looks like a cat..." He muttered. Vlad rolled his blue-grey eyes. The duo sat in silence for a few minutes, simply watching the clouds.

"I could have killed him."

Vlad looked over with a sympathetic frown; he didn't know what to say to that.

"Th-There was blood on the wall..." The boy whimpered. "I-I didn't know what to do... I was just there, frozen..."

The older halfa reached over and held the boy's cold, shaking hand.

"Everyone was terrified of me, even Sam and Tucker..." He swallowed. " _I_ was terrified of me, too."

Vlad's heart broke at the sadness and fear in the boy's voice.

"Little Badger," Vlad said quietly, "You know it wasn't your fault-"

"If I hadn't overreacted and _shot Dash_ , then he wouldn't be in the hospital! I could be a _murderer_ , he could even be _dead_ right now-" Tears suddenly broke through, with a few strangled sobs.

"Listen to me, Danny." Vlad gently but firmly turned the boy's head towards him with one hand, and looked him in the eyes. "Please don't blame yourself. This was just one of those things, that couldn't have happened any differently. If it's anyone's fault, it's _Dash's_ , for deciding to play a dirty trick in the first place. Now, all we can do is move on. Forgive and forget."

A tear streamed onto Vlad's finger, and Danny leaned over, burying his face in Vlad's chest, another sob being forced from his throat.

Vlad froze in shock for a few seconds before awkwardly patting the boy's back. He had never been in that situation before, and didn't know what else to do, except to simply be there for the teenager... who was also the only person in the world that Vlad cared for as his own son.

"Now everyone in my class knows I'm a ghostly freak..." Danny choked, his voice muffled. "And by now, the whole _school_ probably knows..."

"Danny, you are _not a freak_." Vlad assured firmly. "You are a talented, selfless young man. You sacrifice your life to protect those around you, and lose sleep and time by doing so. If anything, you're a _hero_ , and don't think of yourself as anything different." Danny sniffed and nodded slightly against Vlad's chest. "And hey, Little Badger, anything you call yourself, you call me too!" Vlad joked a little. "Do you think I'm a freak?"

"No... Of course not..."

"I'm the one who could go around as a ghost on Halloween, and have the perfect costume. Green/blue skin, fangs, lifeless red eyes... I've got the whole vampire package. If anyone's a freak, _I_ am."

"To be honest, I've always thought your ghost appearance was cool, Vlad. Not freaky. Well, freaky in a good way, if you know what I mean." Danny smiled a little.

"I'll take " _freaky in a good way_ " as a compliment, then." Vlad muttered in amusement, and heard Danny chuckle a little.

Just then, Vlad's pocket buzzed. He moved his free hand down to pull it out.

 _"If there's something strange... in the neighborhood... Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!"_

Vlad glared at Danny, who had pulled away from Vlad and had started shaking with uncontrollable, silent laughter.

" _Little Badger_..." Vlad growled before picking up the phone. "Hello, this is Vlad Masters."

It turned out to be an annoying telemarketer (Vlad had no idea how he had gotten the number in the first place), so the billionaire hung up.

"That's the second _Ghostbuster_ reference I've heard today..." Danny said with a giggle.

"I'll get you for this, Daniel."

"You can try, Vlad." The boy sniffed and rubbed the back of his hand across his tear-stained face. "But thanks... for everything."

"Just remember that I'm here for you, no matter what happens, Little Badger."

"Likewise, Fruitloop."

* * *

 _It's all right, just wait and see_

 _Your string of lights are still bright to me_

 _Oh, who you are is not where you've been_

 _You're still an innocent_

 _It's okay, life is a tough crowd_

 _Thirty-two/fifteen and still growing up now_

 _Who you are is not what you did_

 _You're still an innocent_

* * *

 **Ah the feels... xD Feel free to leave a review about your thoughts/comments/criticisms/whatever else you want to say! Thanks for reading and see ya next chapter! :) :)  
**


	2. Innocent: Alternate Ending

**I'm back! Two posts in one day, how 'bout that. I already had this written, though… and I really gave up toward the end, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. xD**

 **To** **Invader Johnn** **y: Haha, yeah I like writing them too. I just have a hard time sometimes making it the right balance, and not too OOC, especially for the previous character development and stuff. But there's so much to do with the idea, especially concerning TUE and other episodes like that. Anyway thanks for reading both my stories and hope you enjoy this next chap too!**

 **To** **Lisa (Guest)** **: Haha, thanks so much! Thanks for reading both this and IWVAF, and hope you like this chap too!**

 **To** **Sockenmonster01** **: I'm so glad you think it sounded good! Like I said to Johnny up there… Its hard sometimes to know if a moment like that is too OOC or too big of a jump from the last chapter… But I'm happy you liked it! Not too man feels in this chapter though. Sorry! Next chapter though… I love writing that stuff! Thanks so much for R &Ring on both this story and the other one! Hope you like this chapter!**

 **To** **Brenne** **: Haha yeah… I could write a rejection one-shot later… Angst you know. And I'm not sure I'll continue that one… I really meant it to be just a one-shot, so the ending can be interpreted any way the reader wants. Lol thank you and hope you like this chapter!**

 **To** **TheLazyWhiteCat** **: Haha thanks, I like nice Vlad and Danny bonding too… Thanks for reading and reviewing, and hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **To** **MsFrizzle** **: True.. In fact your review inspired this alternate ending! Lol congrats. But, this one might be too harsh… while the last chapter wasn't harsh enough. Ugh, I can never get a good balance. Thanks for reading and reviewing and hope you think this chapter is more probable!**

 **Thanks to** **Invader Johnny** **,** **Shadowfey913** **,** **Pana-sule** **,** **Professor Cuddles** **,** **Xxibio** **,** **TheLazyWhiteCat** **,** **Rocky Rooster** **,** **Mystery301** **,** **NieEngel** **,** **ShadowHazard16** **, and** **SlytherinPosidens Divergents** **for following and/or favoriting this story! :D So many after just the first chapter!**

 **If any of you haven't read** **If Vlad Wasn't a Fruitloop** **(some of your names are new to me), then it goes with this story. It's actually the main one, so if you liked this you might like that one even more! Anyway thanks again! :)**

 **Here's** **Innocent: Alternate Ending!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from DP, but I own the plot. I also don't own Innocent by Taylor Swift.**

* * *

 _"Wait... Wait!" Danny called with a hoarse voice, flying through the air behind the emergency team. "I-I can help, I-"_

 _Two sets of hands grabbed him and held him back. He struggled and squirmed in their firm hold._

 _"No, no! I-I can... I..." Tears rushed to his eyes and threatened to drip down his face. "It's my fault, it's my fault, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-" he wrapped his arms around his thin frame, looking down and letting his dark bangs hide his clenched eyes._

 _Sam and Tucker, who held the quivering boy in their arms, tried to comfort their friend, but their efforts were in vain._

* * *

William Lancer's hands quivered as he dialed a number on the class phone. The room was filled with chaotic shouts and conversation. The disbelief of what had just happened was palpable to everyone, especially the English teacher.

" _Hello, this is the Guys in White Government Agency. How may we help you?_ "

The bearded man had been reluctant to call. He felt as if he were betraying his own student, which technically he _was_ , but the boy was a danger to everyone around him. There was a school full of innocent teenagers that just weren't safe with Danny around. If he had injured the football quarterback that badly in one accidental blast, imagine the intended damage that he could do! Lancer just couldn't take the chance of his other students being hurt or worse.

There was no concrete proof that the boy was a ghost, but the use of a green plasma ray and moving intangibly through other students were common abilities that the ghosts had in Amity Park. And, luckily, he knew the national number for the GIW agency, which specialized in ghost hunting. The man shuddered at the word; he couldn't bear to think of one of his students (even one as disobedient and inattentive as Danny Fenton) as something that could be _legally hunted_ , for lack of a better term.

He explained what had happened in to the phone in a hushed tone, watching the black-haired boy wearily as he talked. He knew he was doing the right thing, for the safety of the majority of the school.

" _Remain calm, sir. A team will be there momentarily._ " The disembodied voice on the phone assured the teacher and hung up.

Most of the class had gathered close to Mr. Lancer's desk, as far away from the ghostly boy as possible. The teacher caught a glimpse of the boy close to his two friends, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley. The sight told him that either they were very loyal, or they had known about the secret before that day.

Lancer took a shaky breath and sat back in his chair to wait.

* * *

Danny flinched when he heard shouts and the sound of weapons powering up with his improved hearing. The door to the classroom flew open, and multiple Guys in White agents ran in, surrounding the corner where the boy in question was kneeling.

His ice blue eyes widened even further then they were already, and he stopped breathing as ghost hunting guns surrounded him, aiming at his heart.

"Daniel Fenton, put your hands up. Struggling will only harm you. Surrender willingly and treatment will not be harsh."

Dozens of eyes on him, he slowly stood up. He wanted so badly to run, to get away from those men who didn't even consider him human, who were probably planning on dissecting him once they had him locked up.

He had never been that afraid before. Not when he had been shocked by the portal to the verge of death. Not when he had fought multiple ghosts at once, who all wanted him to suffer and bleed. Not when his parents had almost found out his secret. _Never before_ had the ghost boy been _this terrified_.

"No, you _can't do this!_ " Sam yelled, shoving herself in front of her friend. "You don't even know what happened! It was all an _accident_ , and you have no right to-"

"We have the right to do anything with ghosts." The man said angrily. "And that _creature_ qualifies as a ghost. Step _aside_ young lady, and learn your place."

"Danny is _not a creature!_ " Tucker snapped, joining the fuming Goth girl in front of the half-ghost behind them. "He's a human too. He has the same rights as everyone else-"

"The normal punishment for injuring an innocent is being arrested and put on trial." The GIW agent growled. "That's what we're doing right now. _Step aside_ -"

"You'll have to go through _us_ if-"

" _Enough!_ " Danny snapped loudly, his voice seeming to echo, startling everyone in the room. His eyes glowed green in both sadness and anger. "I'm _not_ letting anyone else get hurt because of me." He pushed past his friends and held out his hands. "I surrender."

"Danny, _no!_ "

"You can't just let them-"

Before he could respond, glowing ghost-proof handcuffs were put on the boy, and he was surrounded and escorted outside to a white truck.

He was shoved into the back, and the only light came through a small window with metal bars.

The handcuffs were so tight around his wrists that they had already made his skin red, and his shoulders ached with his arms restrained in front of him. But worst of all, the cuffs disabled all of his powers, and shocked him when he tried to use them. He shuddered at the reminder of his accident in the portal.

The truck jerked forward, causing the boy to be thrown back into the metal door with a surprised shout. He slid down with his back against the wall and tried his best to steady himself in the moving vehicle.

A lone tear dripped down in the darkness, and hit the metal floor with a quiet _plat_. Danny took a deep breath and forced himself to hold himself together. He had to stay strong, and not give up hope that everything would turn out okay in the end.

* * *

Vlad appeared in his mansion with a cloud of swirling pink gas. It was only a little after noon. He wandered through his house to the kitchen, made some coffee, and turned on his flatscreen TV. He boredly flipped through channels, looking for something good to watch.

"- _friendship could be. My little pony, and then you all shared its magic with_ -"

" _Oh, Brett!" "Oh Monica!" "I love yo_ -"

"- _with no additional charge! That's two quality Fender-Blenders for the price of_ -"

"- _at Casper High School in Amity Park, Illinois. Only one injury was reported, quarterback Dash Baxter, who is now in critical condition at Amity's hospital_."

Vlad's eyebrows furrowed, and he couldn't help wondering what had happened at Danny's school.

" _The Guys in White agency recently reported the cause of this tragedy. A local teenage boy, Daniel Fenton_."

Vlad spit his coffee onto the carpet in front of him, not caring that it made a stain on the exquisite carpet.

The boy's school picture flashed up beside the reporter, his face showing is signature quirky grin. Another video opened below the picture, showing two GIW agents. One of them started talking. " _We got a distress call from one of the teachers at Casper. We went there right away, and took the boy into custody without struggle. Further investigation proves that he does indeed have ghostly abilities, as well as a very high level on our ghost power scale. We do not know how this happened or why, but we will be interviewing the Fenton family to find out the reason for his supernatural attributes. We will update you on this matter as soon as we can_." The video disappeared, and the picture of Danny enlarged.

" _There you have it. A young boy with strange powers that ghosts normally have, who is the son of Amity's resident ghost hunters, of all people. Quite a story. More on this later, so stay tuned. Back to you Lance_."

Vlad stared at the TV, frozen in shock. The news continued in the background, but he didn't hear any of it.

He realized with dread that Jack and Maddie Fenton had found out their son's secret by now, more likely than not. He briefly wondered if they were fighting to get Danny out of the GIW's clutches, or if they wanted him to stay locked away...

He shook his head and decided to join the Fenton family, and do whatever he could to help Danny without blowing his own secret. If that happened, things could be worse for the _both_ of them.

* * *

The truck had come to a stop after about 30 minutes of rough driving. Danny somehow stood himself up without using his bound hands. He was covered in bruises from being thrown around in the back of the truck for so long.

He was escorted into a white building, and shoved into a dark cell about 10 feet by 10 feet. He tripped and fell on his face, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Treatment won't be harsh, _my ass_..." He muttered moodily, throwing in the uncharacteristic curse word. He painfully pulled himself to his feet again. Agitated, the ghost boy kicked the door and then regretted it when he hopped back on his good foot.

" _Ow ow ow_..." He cursed and fell down again, his black hair covering his eyes. He blew it out of his face, blushing hotly when he imagined the Guys in White agents laughing at him as they watched through the security camera, up above his head.

"Okay, I'm okay, no powers, s'all cool-" he grumbled to himself, trying to float upright, but the useless effort only making him even more tired and annoyed, plus the shock made his body ache even more.

He dragged himself to the metal wall and sat back against it, the unforgiving cold and hard surface present even through his shirt, and he shivered. The only light in the cell came from the tiny glass portion of the door, casting shadows across the small space.

He moved his hands again, flinching when his wrists stung because of it. He glared down at the glowing green metal, looking for any weak spots he could use to loosen them or even break them if he had to. He knew he could do it if he really tried, but he wasn't sure if he could even escape this prison designed to hold ghosts, plus he would be in even more legal trouble. That was the last thing he needed...

He would have given anything to have his powers back, even just for some sense of comfort, some back-up plan, some defense... To have no weakness, no pain, no solitary confinement, no lonesome, depressed feeling... To have Vlad. His family. Sam. Tucker. All loving him despite what he was, despite his flaws, despite his lies, despite his many mistakes and shortcomings.

He curled into himself and drifted off into an uneasy, fearful sleep, dreading what was soon to come.

* * *

Vlad, the Fentons, Sam and Tucker sat in the family room at FentonWorks. The depression and worry was palpable as the group sat in silence.

Sam and Tucker had already tried their best to explain the situation to Maddie and Jack. Why Danny had powers, how long, and what he had been doing for Amity Park had all been mentioned. However, the two ghost hunters didn't know what to think. They felt conflicted about the whole thing, but above all, they were worried for their son, ghost or not.

Vlad was nervous about being there, in fear of his own secret being found out. He could tell the three Fentons in the room were confused about why he had come.

The TV flickered from the commercial to the live News again.

" _We're back with the 5:00 news. We have more on the Casper High story. Now we're going live to the Amity Park facility of the Guys in White_."

The video changed to a white room, where four agents were pulling along an annoyed, frightened Danny. The four agents hastily forced him down into a chair. Large metal cuffs wrapped around his chest and legs.

" _What, the handcuffs weren't enough, huh?_ " He muttered in annoyance, unable to move much with his new restraints, and oblivious to being live on the news.

An agent stepped forward, pulling out a remote. He pushed a red button, and a screen appeared on the white wall behind Danny, who tried to twist around to see it.

An agent spoke up. " _I am Agent K. These are the results of some harmless tests we did, once the boy was taken into custody._ " Danny frowned at the man in confusion, but then realized that there was a camera pointing at them. His face went white and he stared into the camera in horror, breaking the hearts of his family and friends watching.

The video zoomed up on the screen behind them.

* * *

 _Percent blood: 50%_

 _Percent ectoplasm: 50%_

 _Power level: 7.24_

* * *

Danny squirmed, hiding behind his raven bangs and having a feeling what was being shown.

" _We believe the creature in front of you is half-dead, half-alive. There is no other way for those results to happen._ "

Vlad, Sam and Tucker fumed at that, while Maddie and Jack simply stared at their son on the screen.

" _Also, with further investigation, we believe that there's more to his condition, such as multiple other powers, as possibly a change in appearance, but there's no easy way to find out without putting our staff and facility at risk. With his power level, he could decimate the surrounding area, up to a mile radius, or possibly more, if he wanted to._ "

The boy in the metal chair gritted his teeth, his eyes glowing green. " _Like I would do that_..." He grumbled with a teenager-like eye roll.

The agent grabbed the boy's hair, forcing his head up. " _Watch what you say, ghost scum._ " He hissed in the boy's ear, so quietly that the camera barely picked it up. " _We own you now. You're government property. I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you_."

" _Let_ go _of me!_ " The boy jerked his head away and kicked with all his strength, striking the agent's shin. The man yelled in pain, backing away with a furious glower. Danny inwardly flinched and refused to look anywhere but the floor.

Another agent stepped in from the side. " _The boy will have a trial scheduled for a future date, for his crimes. Until then, he'll be safely locked in our ghost-proof facility, where he can't do any harm or damage. Further testing will be conducted, and a cure for his_ condition _will be searched for. Thank you for listening._ "

" _There you have it. New information on this case will be reported as it's sent in. And now for the weather_."

* * *

It was about an hour later, and Vlad, Maddie, and Jack were walking into the GIW base in Amity Park. The two Fentons had been called to come there to speak to some agents about Danny's condition. Vlad had been allowed to go along because he also had a degree in ghost sciences, and was their partner years before.

Of course, Vlad would've rather been anywhere but the one of the most secure ghost prisons in the world. He jumped every time he heard a noise, expecting to be caught and accused as being a ghost. He thought he felt the agent's eyes on him, scrutinizing and studying his every move.

The two ghost hunters beside him hadn't said much of anything. By then, the boy's capture had been broadcasted to Amity Park, and even nationally, for multiple hours, and they were surely still in a state of shock at the revelation.

The group was led through the stark white halls to a large room with a metal chair in the middle... the same one that had been seen on the news, an hour before.

As the three middle aged adults came to a stop, movement came from a door against the far wall. Four agents were pulling along an annoyed, frightened Danny, who was obviously resisting.

He looked up, catching a glimpse of the familiar adults across the room. His dull, haunted blue eyes lit up green with emotion.

"M-Mom, Dad!" He struggled to go to them, yanking out of the agent's grip. With a mighty yell, his hands glowed bright green and he tried to force them apart, screaming when he was shocked at the highest voltage yet.

Alarms blared in the room and the Guys in White yelled to get him back into control, rushing toward him with guns blazing.

The four agents hastily got him back under control and shoved him down into the chair. Large metal cuffs wrapped around his chest and legs, rendering him unable to move anything below his head.

Eyes wet with frustrated tears, he looked hopelessly over to his parents, who were gaping at the event that had just happened. Vlad was fuming silently at the agent's, but unable to intervene without blowing his cover.

"As you can see, your son is unpredictable, dangerous, and too powerful for his own good." The head agent muttered, glowering at the trembling boy, who gritted his teeth in annoyance, stifling a smart remark.

"He registers as a 7.24 on our power scale. As you know, 10 is the top level. Also, some tests we ran showed that 50% of what should be his blood is composed of ectoplasm. His temperature is 77 degrees, his heart rate 36 beats per minute... Everything indicates that he should be _dead_."

Danny hid behind his raven bangs, looking to the white floor in embarrassment.

"How did he develop this condition?" The agent asked the Fentons with a hint of curiosity. "By all means, it should be impossible. Blood and Ectoplasm in a perfect balance... It's as if he's only _half-alive_!"

Vlad and Danny shared a frantic look. They couldn't believe the agents had actually figured out the truth, or at least part of it.

"We-we don't know... We didn't know before today." Maddie said in a low voice. "We're just as confused as you are-" She was cut off.

"Alright boy, how are you like this?" The agent approached the restrained halfa threateningly. "Tell us now and you won't get hurt."

"Any _more_ hurt, you mean." The boy muttered dryly, his bruises not healed yet because of the power-dampening handcuffs he'd been wearing. "I came without struggle, and I didn't even try to break my handcuffs until like _two seconds ago_ , and you still treated me like _freaking crap_. You haven't done _anything_ that deserves an honest answer. So _excuse me_ if I don't feel inclined to tell you anything important."

Everyone in the room stared at him in surprise at his cold, bitter tone.

"I don't appreciate your _tone_ , _ghost scum_." The agent growled.

"Well I don't appreciate your _face_ , you _butthead_!"

" _You little_ -" the agent forced the boy's head up, glaring into his glowing green eyes.

Vlad would have laughed had the situation not been so serious. He stepped forward to intervene.

"Alright everyone, _calm down_ -"

"He started it!" Danny muttered childishly, once the man in white had let go of him. "Can I get out of this chair now or..."

"No!" The agent snapped.

"Why not? It's uncomfortable, plus my nose itches, and I can't move my hand up to scratch it."

"I don't _care_!"

"But it _itches_!"

The agent stared at Maddie and Jack. "How do you two even deal with this?!"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Danny asked indignantly.

"It means you're an _annoying teenage brat_!"

"I know you are but what am I?"

The agent groaned, closing his eyes in annoyance.

All of the sudden, the building shook and fire spread through the open doors.

"Wow, the author must _really_ be running out of ideas..." Danny muttered as flames overtook the walls.

"Tell me about it..." The agent grumbled.

"Daniel, what have I told you about breaking the fourth wall?" Vlad scolded.

"Maybe the fourth wall was meant to be broken, ever thought about that?"

Vlad rolled his eyes.

"Plus it's not like the world would _end_ or something-"

And then the Earth exploded, ending all life on the planet and then the Galaxy. The end.

* * *

 ** _It's all right, just wait and see_**  
 ** _Your string of lights are still bright to me_**  
 ** _Oh, who you are is not where you've been_**  
 ** _You're still an innocent_**

 ** _It's okay, life is a tough crowd_**  
 ** _Thirty two(fifteen) and still growin' up now_**  
 ** _Who you are is not what you did_**  
 ** _You're still an innocent_**

* * *

 **Yeah… I gave up. I didn't really know where I was going with it anyway… And it's too big of an idea to write as a one-shot idea. If you guys really liked it, maybe I can write a full (serious) story about it.**

 **Anyway, more ideas coming hot off the press soon! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Silhouette

**Hello everyone! I'm back with another one-shot! :D This one is the alternate timeline from The Ultimate Enemy, in preparation for my chapter coming up soon in If Vlad Wasn't A Fruitloop.**

 **Thanks to these people for the follows and favorites: NicNacK4U, Kimera20, CalypsoTheL0ver, Mistress Soul, KsfanKs, Armorheart, KakkoiiBaka, Soelle, DannyPhantomFandom, DB-KT, EmeraldTooth, Kaseytrue, Mistress1296, and Sugar500!**

 **And thank you to those who left reviews: Invader Johnny, Sockenmonster01, DannyPhantomFandom, Guest, Brenne, Destinydragon, Kimera20, Guest, and AndiKaneUnderwood. You all probably don't remember what you had said after almost 8 months, so I won't bother replying. xD I read every review and I appreciate all of the support! Thank you so much! :D**

 **There will be more chapters coming soon. Two more are in the works right now and I have many more ideas for the future! Now let's get to the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer : I don't own any characters or the general plot in this chapter, as they belong to Butch Hartman.**

 **TRIGGER WARNING: A bit of depression in this one, as well as general angst. It's not too bad, as I generally stay family friendly. xD**

* * *

 **Silhouette**

Flames shot up from the rubble, illuminating the dusky sky. Sirens could be heard from arriving fire trucks and emergency vehicles, and various news crews broadcasted the incredible damage from afar. Distressed citizens screamed and yelled and cried, the policemen holding them back from the destruction.

Just minutes before, it had been peaceful in the small town of Amity Park. School had recently gotten out, and almost all of the students were very relieved that the big C.A.T. test was finally over. To top it all off, a few ghosts appeared in the town and were fought off as usual. It was very much a normal day in the ghost capital of the world.

But so quickly, fate had been twisted and a tragedy had occurred. An overheated vat of signature sauce from the local burger joint, the Nasty Burger, had violently exploded before everyone could be evacuated from the restaurant.

A raven-haired boy had fallen in front of the rubble, ash and dirt staining his hands and clothes. Stormy blue eyes brokenly watched the scene, not once blinking as the fire roared on.

An older man crouched behind, silently comforting the teenager and wearing the same expression of hopelessness.

* * *

"You cheated on the test?!"

The lack of response and downcast gaze was a sufficient enough response.

Vlad was speechless. He remembered the C.A.T. test from his own high school some 30 years before, and he had not forgotten how important the particular exam was. Almost all colleges needed to receive a score in order to even consider admitting the student.

And apparently, the half-ghost teenager in front of him had gotten the answers somehow and knowingly used them to cheat.

The two halfas were seated in the main room in Vlad's mansion, the plasma TV blaring in the background. The younger had rushed straight there in an effort to avoid his parents and teacher while they had a conference discussing his behavior.

Danny sighed and buried his face in his hands. "I-I know... I knew it was wrong but I just couldn't stop myself... and now I'm in so much trouble, with the school, with my parents..." he took a shaky breath, "It was seriously a stupid decision. Please... what should I do? How can I fix this?"

The older halfa placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "Well, what's done is done. There's no changing it. But the best thing you can do is live up to it and acknowledge that you made a mistake."

Danny nodded, looking to the floor. "All right, thanks for the advice." He blew out a breath of air. "I just wish there was a way for me to undo this whole day, and return the stupid test answers."

"How did you even acquire them anyway?" Vlad questioned, knowing that the boy didn't actually steal them with a bad intention.

"I flew intangibly through Lancer's briefcase and took the envelope along with me somehow." He explained sadly. "Sam and Tuck tried to tell me the consequences of keeping them but I didn't listen. And now I'm in _this_ mess..."

Vlad hmmed sympathetically, but a possible response was lost when an alert sounded from the TV.

 _"Breaking News: disaster hit Amity Park just minutes ago when the restaurant known as the Nasty Burger went up in flames, for reasons still being investigated. Few were safely evacuated and many perished in this catastrophe."_

The news reporter droned on, giving more information and showing video footage of the demolished building.

Danny's breath caught in his throat, shock and horror the only things he could feel.

Mr. Lancer. His parents. His sister. His best friends.

They were all at the Nasty Burger.

"No..." He whispered, silently pleading for himself to be wrong. The conference could be over by this time, right? There could have been a mistake and it was postponed. There could have been a change of meeting place.

Deep in his heart, he doubted every explanation he thought up.

His eyes flickered over to see a shocked Vlad, peering at Danny in concern and a slight bit of panic.

" _No!_ " The teenager said louder, tears breaking from his eyes as he jumped up off the couch.

In a powerful flash of green light, Danny found himself sinking to his knees in front of the burning building, close enough to feel the heat of the raging fire, rubble the only thing left of the restaurant.

It was all his fault.

* * *

Vlad was left in shock at the disappearance of his student in such a manner. Had the boy just... teleported? In human form?

He had a feeling of where to go, and only seconds later the room was left empty after a pink swirl of light.

After materializing in front of the fire, a familiar form was collapsed in front of him, tears mixing with the dirt.

They sat there for hours. No one bothered to tell them to move, not even as the fire was put out and the rubble was moved.

The orange sky was slowly darkening into night. Vlad cautiously looked over to the boy sitting next to him, who didn't react in the slightest.

"Danny...?"

No response.

The boy had just suffered through the loss of his family, friends and teacher at the same time. Vlad sighed dejectedly, not knowing how to handle the situation.

He looked over again to see that the raven-haired teenager had closed his eyes, leaning against the older half-ghost beside him.

Vlad watched for a few seconds before slowly changing position to cradle the boy against his chest.

No one was in sight, so the man allowed the pitch-black hoops to change him into his ghost form. He gently took off into the sky and teleported back to his mansion, praying it wouldn't disturb the sleeping boy in his arms.

Before long, Danny had been placed in the most comfortable bed to sleep. Vlad sat down in a nearby armchair and prepared to watch his student for the night.

It was the longest night of his life.

* * *

Danny Fenton breathed a contented sigh as he relaxed under his warm blankets. He didn't want to wake up yet; his alarm hadn't even gone off, and that meant it was too early.

He turned his head, and groaned as bright light seeped in under his eyelids. He blinked his eyes open to see a large window, the sun shining through. It was late morning already.

He shot up in bed and looked around. It wasn't his room.

Where was he?

After a few dazed seconds, he recognized the room. He was in Vlad's mansion. But he didn't remember staying the night there...

He slowly got out of bed and stretched. He had on his normal clothes, but they were filthy.

Danny frowned; what had happened?

He exited the room and went down the main stairway. The smell of eggs and sausage permeated the air.

He saw Vlad sitting in his armchair and reading a book. The man looked up at the movement and shot the boy a small smile.

"Hello Daniel. Are you feeling better?" The man asked tentatively, watching cautiously for a reaction of some sort.

"Uh, I guess." Danny answered, still a bit confused. "What happened? Why did I stay the night here?"

The man frowned and stood up from the chair, walking over to stand in front of the boy. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what...?" the boy began to ask when he froze. The scenes of destruction came back to his mind, as well as the grief and sorrow and shock from the previous day.

All at once, he felt tears building up in his eyes and sobs threatening to come out. His family and friends and teacher... were all dead.

Because of him.

Shaking, he buried his face in the billionaire's suit, wetting it with tears. He felt arms wrap around him as he began to sob uncontrollably.

He didn't want to act like this. But what mattered anymore, when almost everyone who loved him was gone?

He felt himself being led further into the room and lowered onto a soft couch, still wrapped in Vlad's arms.

"I'm so sorry." He heard the man whisper in his ear and hold him tighter. The raven-haired boy turned his head to the side so he could breathe. But a nagging feeling told him he didn't deserve it.

What kind of hero was he? He couldn't even save his own friends and family from destruction. In fact, he directly caused their deaths.

He didn't deserve to live, not if his parents and friends were gone because of his rash actions.

For what felt like hours, the two sat there on the couch in the silent house. Danny's hands still shook from the terrible memories he remembered, and never-ending tears soaked the suit of the man beside him.

"It's all my fault." The boy's voice shook with emotion.

"No it's not." Vlad said firmly. "There was no way of knowing that this could happen. It shouldn't have happened. It's not your fault Danny. I promise you."

But what good were promises? Danny Phantom had promised to protect his friends, his family, his town.

Promises were as easily broken as they were made.

* * *

"Please, Daniel, you have to eat."

"I'm not hungry"

"You have to be hungry, you're a growing teenage boy!" Vlad attempted to joke.

"I'm not hungry."

The man sighed dejectedly. It was a few days after the incident, and with each passing day the younger halfa's depressed state seemed to get even worse.

"You're as skinny as a twig. What do I have to do to get you to eat something?"

Danny shrugged, turning away from the table full of various food dishes.

"I don't deserve to eat."

"Of course you do!" Vlad said softly, sitting down beside the boy. "Stop talking nonsense and please eat something!"

Danny emotionlessly shook his head no.

"For me?"

The boy looked up sadly before sighing in defeat. "All right."

* * *

Soon the memorial service happened, and then the statues to remember those lost in the incident were put up. Days, then weeks went by, and soon a full month had passed.

Danny's condition did not improve, in fact it seemed to worsen as time went on. He refused to "go ghost" ever again, and he borderline stopped eating. Vlad got more and more worried with each passing day. He cared about the boy as family and hoped to get him out of his funk.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be working.

The man even worried that the boy would try to hurt himself or even worse. Every moment he watched over the younger half-ghost like a mother hen. He always made sure not to leave the boy alone for long.

He felt guilty for thinking that way, that he couldn't trust the boy to be alone for a substantial length of time, but he may have been right to be concerned.

* * *

A decade passed rather quickly for Vlad.

He had been turned from a relatively happy half-ghost to a lonely old hermit that was fully human, reduced to cowering in a cave just outside the Wisconsin border.

The day still haunted him. It was the day that Danny had asked, no, begged, _pleaded_ for his human and ghost half to be ripped apart.

Vlad tried to explain that "no, it won't help you feel better, Danny," but his efforts were in vain.

Phantom had gone insane, like a lot of ghosts when their obsessions were lost. Vlad still remembered the gleeful screaming and cackling from the white-haired ghost.

It hadn't been long before Phantom had lashed back out, stealing the Gauntlets and giving the same fate to Masters and Plasmius. It was excruciating, the man remembered, and very different to be completely human again, with no powers or supernatural senses.

Phantom, being in the crazed state he was in, overshadowed Plasmius, who was also not in the best state because of the stressful times of trying to care for Danny, and the outcome had been horrifying. The two ghosts had somehow fused, creating one evil and insane ghost.

Vlad Masters still felt deep emotional pain from losing Fenton, the human half of Danny, because of Phantom's raging.

In the near decade it had been since then, the world had been ravaged by "Dark Dan" as many called him. Amity Park was one of the few cities left standing and protected from the powerful ghost.

So Vlad hid out in his new cave, the mansion abandoned and possibly even destroyed by then, but he was safe from the destruction of Dan for the time being. But he was wasting away on his own again, just like he had been doing after his accident in college.

But deep inside, he had a feeling that somehow, things weren't meant to be like they were, and he even sometimes wished that the Ghost of Time would intervene and the timeline would be restored to what it should have been.

An Ancient interfering with the lives of normal humans and ghosts? Impossible, and crazy to even consider.

But one can never be too sure.

* * *

 _I'm a silhouette, asking every now and then,_

 _"Is it over yet? Will I ever feel again?"_

 _I'm a silhouette, chasing rainbows on my own_

 _But the more I try to move on, the more I feel alone_

 _So I watch the summer stars to lead me home._

* * *

 **The song is Silhouette by Owl City. I don't own the lyrics.**

 **Ahhh the angst... Don't worry, this leads up to the upcoming chapter in my main story, If Vlad Wasn't A Fruitloop, so it will definitely turn out better, as you know from TUE.**

 **Also, I have a DeviantArt account, PhantomS14, where I recently made a comic about a scene in IVWAF! I will be making more in the future, from other scenes I like from both this story and that one. So feel free to check them out!**

 **Thanks so much for reading and look out for more chapters, coming up soon! :)**


	4. It's Time

**I'm back with another update! :D It's weird considering I had such a long hiatus, but whatever. I'll be posting more regularly now! Probably! xD At least once school gets out I will. Anyway...**

 **Thanks to Shiranai Atsune who was the lone faver/follower of this story since the last chapter! xDD It had been only a few days so it sort of makes sense. And thanks to the same person who favorited/followed me as an author also! Thank you! :D**

 **Thanks to Invader Johnny, Guest (** **The Dragon of Prophecy and Destiny)** **, and Kimera20 for their reviews! :D**

 **In response to Guest, who asked why I had been gone for 8 months: ...I'm sorry ok I have a life outside of fanfiction! *crickets chirp* ...Alright that may have been a lie but still! xD It really was terrible, I'm sorry for being gone for so long. I never forgot, I promise; I just had no idea what to write for a while. I was also focusing on the rewrite of Reign Storm for my main story, IVWAF, and I wanted to get that done before I started anything else. I was just stuck on some of the events in it; I knew generally what I wanted to do but I just couldn't write it right. But I've gotten past my writer's block so hopefully it won't happen again... xD**

 **Thank you to all of you three, I smiled at each review and the nice things said, you guys are amazing! Everyone who is reading this is amazing! :D**

 **Now for the chapter! I know at least some of you will like the idea, and I've found very few stories about it... So yeah I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer : I don't own the characters yada yada yada**

* * *

 **It's Time**

"Is something wrong Daniel?"

"Oh, just a toothache. I probably have a cavity or something." Danny gently placed a hand onto his mouth. It was the day of the two halfas' training session, and the boy had just arrived at Vlad's mansion. They were both in their ghost forms, about to start.

Vlad frowned. "Let me see..." Confused, Danny opened his mouth, showing slightly inflamed gums.

The ghost boy saw Vlad's expression, and gave him a questioning look.

"I think I know what's happening, Danny."

"What? What's all the suspense for Fruitloop?"

"Ah, well... Your fangs are growing in..."

"Fangs?!" Danny muttered in horror, covering his mouth with his hands. "B-but I don't want fangs!"

"Relax Badger, it's normal. Happened to me about a year after I got my powers. And if it bothers you, ghosts have the ability to change their appearance, or trick people's eyes into thinking they look a certain way. So, no one else will know if that's the way you want it."

"H-how long will it take?"

Vlad laid a calming hand on the boy's shoulder, silently urging him to calm down. "It took just a few days for me, but it could be longer or shorter for you, since you're a different age than I was. Unfortunately, it hurts quite a bit, since it's similar to teething for young toddlers... But with only two full-sized, sharp teeth, instead of multiple small ones."

Danny stared in shock. "What am I going to do? I have school tomorrow, and I don't wanna go home like this..."

"You can just stay here until it's over." The man offered. "I can call your parents and make something up."

"Okay... okay..." The ghost boy muttered, still in a state of surprise.

The older halfa put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It'll be fine, Danny, don't worry. It doesn't affect your human form. You might want to stay as a ghost until it's over, though. I don't know what would happen if you switch back and forth."

The boy nodded in agreement.

"So, if you don't feel like training today, that's fine. You can just rest, watch TV, or whatever else you want to do. As long as you don't trash the house, I'm fine with it."

"Okay."

"Are you going to be alright?"

"Probably."

"That's the spirit." Vlad smiled, rolling his eyes at his own pun.

"Ha, ha. Don't quit your day job, Fruitloop." The boy muttered.

"Wouldn't dream of it. It'd probably come back to haunt me, if I did. I know there's a ghost of a chance of that, anyway."

"Please stop..." Danny said with an eye roll.

"... But I'm dying to continue."

The younger halfa groaned and banged his head on the wall exaggeratedly, causing Vlad to start laughing uncontrollably.

"It's so bad, it's funny..." Danny said, chuckling at the puns. "And now I have a headache along with a toothache."

"Sorry..." The billionaire chuckled, causing the boy to join in.

* * *

After a day of watching TV and worrying about his new situation, the younger halfa went to bed in a guest bedroom, still as Danny Phantom.

He woke up the next morning to a terrible taste and ache in his mouth.

Gagging, he flew blindly through the house until he found a bathroom, and spit out a mouthful of ectoplasm and blood. He let water spew into his hands and washed out his mouth.

"And I thought ectoplasm tasted bad alone..." He said to himself with a groan. "It's like five times as bad with blood, eughhh."

He opened his mouth wide and looked in the mirror. The tips of his new fangs were already poking through, and the two teeth that were being replaced had been spat into the sink.

He shuddered at the sight. He never thought that he would get fangs, despite the fact that most ghosts did have them, along with Vlad. Danny didn't want them; if people saw Phantom with sharp, scary teeth, he may not be as accepted as a hero. It was already scary enough getting new dangerous powers; but now he had to deal with new appearance features too?

Danny was startled out of his thoughts when there was a knock at the door.

"Is everything all right in there?"

"Sort of..." Danny replied uncertainly, opening the door. The older man stepped in behind, still in a robe.

"Blood and ectoplasm tastes terrible mixed together, doesn't it." He sympathized after seeing the mess in the sink.

"Yep," Danny replied with a grimace.

"We'd better get you a good breakfast then, to get rid of the taste. Also, do you want some pain medication? It may not work as well in your ghost form but it can't hurt to try."

The boy agreed and floated downstairs with the older man to get breakfast. They sat down at the table, and a few chefs walked in from the kitchen with plates of traditional breakfast food. (Vlad had several staff that were aware of the existence ghosts, but didn't know Vlad was half-ghost himself. Nevertheless, they didn't question why he had a white-haired ghost boy in his house.)

Large stacks of pancakes, pitchers of different flavors of syrup, scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage were all present on the table.

"Whoa!" Was the only comment Danny could make at all the gourmet food.

"It's not often that I have guests here for meals, so I figured we could have a feast." The man grinned. "If there's something else you'd like, I can request it from the main chef."

"N-no thanks," the white-haired boy said, "this is already amazing enough! But you didn't have to do this just for me."

"I'd want nothing less for you, Little Badger."

One large breakfast later, both half-ghosts were stuffed with wonderful food. Danny also took a few pills to prevent the pain from being too bad later.

"I called your parents last night, by the way, and said I would come pick you up and exclusively teach you about running a business for a few days. It was the best excuse I could think of that they would actually appreciate."

"But business stuff is boring..." Danny groaned, "now they'll expect me to go back in a few days and know a bunch of stuff about it..."

"Then I can teach you a bunch of stuff about it."

"... but it's _boring!_ "

Vlad chuckled and ruffled the boy's snow-white hair. "It's not that bad, Daniel."

He glared good-naturedly and sighed, "I gue-"

Phantom was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. He pulled it out of his jumpsuit pocket and saw it was Sam.

"Oh shoot, I forgot to tell my friends where I was." He internally facepalmed, and looked to the man beside him for a plausible excuse he could tell them.

"I got nothing Daniel, you're on your own for this one."

The boy sighed and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Danny! Where are you? School started an hour ago!" Sam said, clearly worried.

"Yeah dude, the first class already ended." Tucker chimed in. "You missed it! Mr. Lancer totally forgot his plans for today so he had to spend like twenty minutes finding them in his email! It was priceless!"

Danny laughed. "Wow, sounds exciting. I'm sorry I missed it..."

"So where exactly are you? Are you home sick?"

"Uh..." Danny looked frantically over to the other man, who nodded to say 'tell them the truth.' The boy took a deep breath before explaining, "Well, I'm having... _ghostly problems_ right now, so I'm at Vlad's for a few days."

"Ghostly problems, huh?" Tucker repeated curiously. "Is it a new ghost you have to fight?"

"Not exactly... don't worry, I'll tell you guys all about it later. Do you think you can handle the ghosts in Amity today?"

Just then, the tardy bell sounded through the phone.

"Yeah, don't worry about it Danny." Tucker assured. "We have it under control."

"Well, we have to get to class," Sam said begrudgingly. "Please update us soon okay? We'll want to know you're doing all right."

"And are you up for some Doomed later?" Tucker added in excitement. "I heard they updated the final boss level!"

"Yeah sure, I can't wait!" Danny replied happily. "Talk to you two later."

After he had hung up, he collapsed onto the couch in relief. "I don't know what I'm going to tell them."

"Why not the truth?" Vlad questioned softly.

"I don't know... I just can't shake the feeling that they'd think I was a freak if I all-of-the-sudden had fangs." Danny said gloomily. "Not to mention whatever else ghost puberty has to offer."

"They're your friends, they wouldn't care about something so trivial." The man reassured.

The white-haired ghost nodded in agreement. "Maybe you're right."

* * *

Danny groaned, his mouth aching from the accelerated growing of his new teeth. It was the next morning, and his fangs were already almost done growing out. Unfortunately, that brought a great deal of pain with it.

And, the horrible taste in his mouth didn't help matters either.

"Is there anything I can get you, Danny?" Vlad asked, gently rubbing the boy's arm.

"Maybe jutht thome water..." the boy replied with slight lisp from his new teeth. He cringed at the painful moving of his mouth, and scowled at the fact that he couldn't even ask for water without being in pain.

Only a few seconds later, a duplicate flew through the floor with a glass of ice water. If Vlad was annoyed about catering to the boy's every need, he didn't show it.

Danny sat up to drink some water, and immediately felt better. "Thankth. And I'm thorry that you have to take care of me like thith."

"It's no problem, badger." Vlad replied, running one hand through the boy's snow-white locks. "Just let me know if you need or want anything else. I'll stay up here just in case."

* * *

"Sam, Tucker!" Danny flew forward and embraced his friends, Vlad remaining behind him. It was a few days later, and Danny had completely recovered from his "ghostly problems," much to his relief.

"Danny!" The two teenagers exclaimed simultaneously, smiling at the sight of their half-ghost friend.

"Are you okay?" The goth girl asked, worry shown on her face, before grimacing. "Sorry, standard question."

"Did you resolve your 'ghostly problems'?" The techno-geek questioned curiously.

"I guess you could say that." The white-haired ghost boy said nervously, before flashing his new teeth. His friends stared openly for a few seconds before smiling back.

"Oh Danny, you could have just told us the truth!" Sam laughed, punching her friend's arm. "And I can't lie, you look pretty badass!"

"Yeah, dude. You could totally scare off anyone who messes with us now!" Tucker added excitedly.

"Thanks." The boy laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I wasn't sure how to tell you, so Vlad suggested I just show you."

The older half-ghost flew up beside his charge, showing similar fangs. "What'd I tell you, Daniel? I was right yet again."

The ghost boy rolled his eyes, lightly elbowing the older ghost beside him. But secretly, Phantom had to agree; Vlad could give some good advice, at least when it mattered.

Especially when it mattered.

* * *

 _It's time to begin, isn't it?_  
 _I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit_  
 _I'm just the same as I was_  
 _Now don't you understand_  
 _I'm never changing who I am_

* * *

 **The song is It's Time by Imagine Dragons. :D I thought it fit pretty well. So, thoughts? I think it was pretty cute, lol.**

 **Anyway stay tuned for more and also The Utimate Enemy, coming up soon in If Vlad Wasn't A Fruitloop!**


	5. Stitches (Part 1)

**Hey guys, I'm back with another update finally! :D Luckily I'm back in the groove of updating all my series, so hopefully that'll keep up.**

 **Thanks to these people who followed/faved since last chap: The Dragon Legend, Master-Juan-X, Ella Le Hissy, Little Luffy, Gajeel-rocks, Yozura no Hono, 2000girl, AsRiver, RoxyEmeralds, cassjo, obsessive360, and movielover9. :D**

 **And thanks to those who reviewed: Invader Johnny, Kimera20, and Guest! Thanks so much for your feedback guys, and I hope you like this chap! ;)**

 **Anyway this one's gonna be a two-shot, maybe even three, I'm not sure yet. So sorry for the slight cliffhanger... xD**

 **TRIGGER WARNING : THIS INCLUDES SMALL AMOUNTS OF GORE AND VIOLENT SITUATIONS, PLEASE TAKE CAUTION IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THAT SORT OF THING. It's obviously not much, as I hate gore myself, but I figured I still needed a warning. If you need more of a description, it's basically a dissection situation but I don't go into much detail, so most likely you'll be fine. But sorry in advance if you're not. xD**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from DP or the song Stitches by Shawn Mendez.**

* * *

Danny Phantom stared at the familiar purple ceiling, cold dread twisting in his core. It almost made him ignore the unnecessarily tight, ghost-proof restraints that were currently holding down all his limbs, and the ice cold metal table underneath him.

He was alone in the room, and complete, unbearable silence surrounded him. The only thing the ghost boy could hear was his own panicked breaths.

The one thing he had hoped to avoid had happened. Jack and Maddie had taken him by surprise during a ghost fight, and unfortunately they had succeeded in catching him with some new tech of theirs.

 _All right, all right, don't panic. Just try to escape while they're still gone. Plan A..._

The boy took a deep breath before wildly jerking around on the table, attempting to loosen or break the restraints. He went through power after power: intangibility, duplication, ghost-rays, and even a failed attempt at ice.

Unfortunately, the metal never budged, and the anti-ghost-power feature didn't falter either.

 _Okay, Plan A was a bust. Plan B...?_

Green eyes peered around the table, frantically searching for any levers or buttons that could be triggered easily. The boy silently cursed himself for not becoming familiar with the lab's newly incorporated features before then. It would have been handy to know which of the dozens of buttons would release the table's restraints.

The white-haired ghost was about to throw a ball of ectoplasm towards the control station in hopes of somehow miraculously hitting the right button, but before any actions could be taken, the door loudly creaked open.

Phantom flinched and lifted his head off of the hard table to look around to the best of his ability. He couldn't tell if his constant shivering was from fear or from the freezing surface below him.

Two distinct voices echoed down the stairway, continuing a conversation that Danny hadn't heard the start of.

"-really think we should start off with this?"

"Of course, the best time would be when he's fresh on ectoplasm. The interview and other less invasive experiments can always be conducted afterwards."

"Sure thing, Maddie! I'll get the tools ready."

The ghost flinched again when the two ghost hunters walked into his field of vision. Their hungry glares and purposeful strides definitely weren't a good sign.

"Uh... any chance we can talk this over?"

"Be quiet, ghost boy." The lady in the blue jumpsuit snapped, not even turning around to address the restrained ghost as she gathered materials.

Danny flinched yet again at his mother's sharp tone. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, his glowing green eyes scanned the lab again, looking for any possible way to get out of the situation.

 _Plan C... try to persuade them to interrogate me first?_

"Hey, you know, I'm offering a once-in-a-lifetime exclusive interview if I don't get ripped apart molecule by molecule first-"

"Don't worry, Phantom." Jack bellowed from his side of the room. "They'll be plenty of time for talking after the first experiment!"

Danny groaned inwardly. "But I think I could offer much more honest answers right now, _before_ I get disintegrated into a puddle of goo."

"Too bad. Jack, honey, are you almost done with the surgical tools?"

Phantom chocked on his own saliva. "Surgical tools?! _Whoa-whoa-whoa_ , I understand your thirst for knowledge but cutting me open wouldn't really be that informative anyway-"

"It'll be plenty informative, ghost!" Maddie replied, obvious excitement in her voice as she opened up a notebook and prepared to take notes. "It's not often that we get to dissect such a high-level ghost like you. Plus, it could provide an explanation for why you're so... different compared to other spirits."

Danny chuckled nervously. "You know I could just _tell_ you about why I'm different... Why don't we start off with some _nice, non-invasive questions_ -"

Green eyes widened as a trey of very sharp, very deadly-looking metal tools was carried over.

 _Vlad, now would be a great time for you to come and save my butt again! Halfa intuition, could that be a thing? A telepathic link would be just awesome right now._

After a few uneventful seconds passed, Danny knew that miraculously developing telepathy wasn't likely to happen. He would have to deal with this one on his own...

 _All right, here goes the dreaded Plan D..._

"Uh... listen, I have something really important to tell you. Like, life changing important."

"What could that be, ghost?" The orange-suited man asked, suspiciously cheerful for the situation.

"You see... you're right, I'm not a normal ghost. There's something that really separates me from the rest, like you noticed..."

The ghost hunters didn't respond, as they were both engrossed in their preparations.

Danny took a shaky breath. "So here it goes... I'm... _part human_..."

Simultaneous heads whipped up in shock, looking at the restrained ghost before meeting each other's gaze.

"That's impossible, Phantom. How would a ghost be something as ridiculous as 'part human'? Humans and ghosts aren't able to reproduce together, in case you weren't aware, ghost boy." The ghost hunter rolled her eyes.

"Well, _when a ghost and a human love each other very much_..." Danny explained sarcastically. " _No!_ Of course it wouldn't happen _naturally!_ "

"Well, would you care to explain how such a thing could happen then?" The ghost huntress questioned snarkily, resuming in her work.

"What if, _theoretically_ , a human went into a malfunctioning ghost portal and turned it on from the inside... and it made him half-ghost?"

Maddie raised an eyebrow before slowly approaching the lab table. "Do you know what happens to ectoplasm and human blood when they come in contact?" The female ghost hunter leaned in close to the shaking ghost boy, their faces only inches apart. "They both disintegrate into _nothing_. Blood and ectoplasm aren't compatible at all. There's no possible way for someone to be both human and ghost, both alive and dead. An encounter in a 'ghost portal' would simply result in death. Not this crazy 'half-ghost half-human' business." Maddie backed away once more. "Jack, are we almost ready?"

"Yes, I'm happy to say that we are!" Jack plodded over with a large syringe filled with light blue liquid, with the largest needle Danny had ever laid eyes on.

"No, no, wait! I still have something important to tell you! A-And show you!" He tried to call up the white rings of light, but nothing happened. Fear instilled itself deep in his stomach. He couldn't transform. Not with the table cancelling out his powers.

"Save it, ghost. Time's a-wasting!" The Fenton father bellowed.

" _I-I'm your son!_ "

Once again, identical expressions of shock appeared on the two Fentons' faces.

"And I can prove it, if you just please turn off the table for just one sec-"

Maddie's surprise dissolved into rage, and she roughly grabbed the ghost around the neck, forcing his frightened eyes to look into hers. "How dare you associate with my son! Now will you please stop with your ridiculous excuses, because _nothing you say will change anything!_ "

"B-but I'm telling the truth!" Danny struggled as he felt his jumpsuit being unzipped, and as the sharp objects on the trey next to him began to come into view. "I'm Danny, your son! Please believe me!" Glowing tears began to trail down onto the metal table. "Mom, Dad, _please!_ "

He was met with silence as his parents didn't bother to respond or halt in their actions.

 _Okay, definitely time to panic. Plan E._

"JAZZ!" Danny yelled at the top of his lungs. "SAM, TUCKER? _ANYONE?!_ PLEASE-"

"Shut up, Phantom!" Maddie scolded forcefully. "Go ahead and give it to him, Jack. The sooner he's out of it, the better."

The halfa jerked around even more when the needle came back into view. "No! _No!_ You can't do this, please!" Tears began to cascade down the already-existing trails.

There was a prick on his neck, and his vision began to darken. Colors mixed together into a tear-filled blur, and the ghost's panicked hyperventilating began to ease as he began the slow descent into unconsciousness.

"Jack, give him another dose. He's still moving too much."

He couldn't even flinch as he felt another prick on the next and razor-hot slashes on his chest. The burning pain only increased with each passing second, but he was frozen, numb in a half-drugged, barely conscious state.

His eyes remained wide open, staring blackly into nothing as one of his biggest nightmares transformed into reality.

* * *

A tall stack of library books leaned dangerously in Jazz's grip as she attempted to unlock the door one-handed, her tongue sticking out in concentration.

"Come on... please don't make me- _Finally!_ " The door swung open, revealing the empty family room.

"Hello, anyone home?" The girl called into the house. She was met with silence.

She had been out on yet another afternoon visit to the library, getting some more books for a school research project. Her parents were likely in the lab, like they always were at that time. Maybe Danny was out fighting ghosts? Or somewhere with Sam and Tucker?

She let her books drop onto the coffee table with a loud thud and walked over to the cracked-open basement door, hearing muffled voices from down the stairs.

"-result of a higher power level?"

"But ghosts don't need organs to exist, that's a fact. What would be the purpose of a ghost replicating the human anatomy like this?"

"There's even quite a bit of red blood mixed with his ectoplasm... Very strange indeed."

"Mom, Dad, what are you doing?" The teenager asked, feeling slightly nervous for some reason.

"Oh, hello honey! We're just performing a dissection. It's pretty gory down here, you may not want to come down." Her mother responded.

Jazz swallowed and raced down the stairs, only seconds later screaming at the sight before her.

" _Oh my god! Oh god_..." She felt unbelievably nauseous at the blood-stained metal instruments and scarily large pools of swirled green and red. She covered her mouth with her shaking hands to keep from screaming again.

"Jazz, dear, I know how it must look, but Phantom's just a ghost. He doesn't feel pain or have emotions, so there won't be a permanent negative effect on-"

"You don't understand what you've done!" Jazz choked, slowly approaching the lab table and sobbing when she saw the form of her brother closer up. "You just don't understand! _Get away from him!_ " Her voice rose to a shrill scream, strangled sobs forcing their way between her words.

The two Fenton parents backed up in shock at their daughter's outburst, watching in confusion and alarm when she gently placed a hand on the side of the ghost's face. His eyelids were tightly squeezed shut, revealing how much pain her must have been in, even in unconsciousness. Even at his sister's gentle touch, he remained motionless.

"Jazz, he's dangerous!" Her mother scolded, but couldn't help but feel strangely guilty. "Get away from him, _now!_ "

The girl ignored the ghost huntress, sobbing and running her fingers through the dimly glowing white hair. She had to do something... she had to get help! Should she call Sam and Tucker? No... they couldn't see Danny like this... they just _couldn't_.

With a nervous swallow, Jazz pulled her cellphone out of her pocket, keeping her aqua gaze fixed evenly on her brother's deathly pale face as she hit a number recently added to her speed dial.

* * *

For Vlad Masters, it had been a normal day. A sizable chunk of the mountain of paperwork was read through and filled out, and the number of interruptions had been surprisingly low for a Friday workday.

But the uneventful day had been abruptly changed for the worse when he got the call.

The hoarse, horrified tone was enough. With no hesitation, the halfa dissolved into pink light and reformed in a house he would have never thought he'd be visiting, had you asked him a year before.

Of course the main level of the house was quiet. The problem was obviously in the lab, where everything dangerous for Danny was. A sick feeling grew in his chest as he sunk through the floor.

Blood. Ectoplasm. Swirled across the floor and desk like a child's messy finger-painting.

It could have been considered _pretty_ had the situation not been what it was.

He absently noticed two confused ghost hunters standing a few feet back. A shaking, hyperventilating older sister standing right in the middle of the mess.

And Danny. Oh, Danny. _Sweet, innocent Danny_.

Vlad had only seen him like this in his worst nightmares.

The sight made him want to explode. Burn the whole wretched place down. Unleash his growing rage on the unknowing ghost hunters in the corner, oblivious to what they had done to their own son, slicing him up like a dead frog in a biology classroom.

He vaguely heard voices. A worried, teary-eyed, incredibly scared teenage girl, and suspicious threats towards the ghost from the two parents. But it didn't matter what they said. Nothing could have made him leave.

 _Monsters! You're both monsters... you don't deserve him._

 _... He didn't deserve this._

He swallowed back his hate and rage and disgust for his two former friends, leaving just unbridled horror. He forced himself to move forward, coming to a stop beside the metal table, intense nausea building up for the first time in years. It was bad. It was _really bad_.

He wasn't a doctor. He had patched himself a few times, but never for anything so incredibly major.

It was obvious that any normal human in Danny's shoes might as well be dead by then.

But he _wasn't normal. He could still survive_...

Had Vlad had even an ounce of trust in the Fentons, he may have forced them to fix what they had done. They surely could have. They were trained scientists, after all, likely equipped with a first aid kit and whatever other supplies were needed, along with the experience.

But if they made a single move towards their ' _experiment_ ,' he wouldn't hold back his wrath. They didn't deserve mercy. Not after what they did. And he wouldn't let them get near Danny _ever again_.

 _Oh, Badger... how do you get yourself into these things?_

Time was wasting. Precious time that the half-dead boy might not have had.

"He's not breathing... he's not-" The shaking girl beside him muttered deliriously.

"If he still was at this point, I would be concerned." Vlad responded in a mutter, referring to the incredible pain breathing would have caused in Danny's state. The only indication that the ghost boy was still alive was his weak ghost signature, barely picked up by the older halfa's ghost sense. "He's still there. But barely."

"Jazz," the tight voice of her mother sounded from behind them, "Where's Danny? Where's your brother?"

Silence. Jazz sniffed, turning her eyes back to the former test subject with eyes shining with tears.

"Answer me, Jasmine. _Where is my son?_ " The lady's voice quivered.

Vlad snarled, red eyes glowering, done with her obliviousness. She flinched, glaring at the ghost that had infiltrated her house. Jack wrapped an arm around her comfortingly, sending an angry glare to his ' _friend_.'

But the two ghost hunters didn't reach for their weapons, that were clearly within reach. At least Vlad was grateful for that.

More silence, and concentration as the older hybrid followed his instincts. Luckily the lab was kept pretty sterile, so an infection wasn't likely. He went through the motions as best he could. First to clean off as much of the blood as possible. Then stitches, which were unavoidable with the injury in question. Then gauze and bandages.

Then it was time to finally turn off that terrible table. The one keeping Danny from turning back into human and recharging his spent energy.

The wretched table that had kept Danny's secret _too well_.

"Turn it off." He growled to the two angry parents that had been forced into the corner. "And if you do anything but that, you don't want to know what I'll do."

Maddie glared at him again, still appearing confused about the whole situation, before approaching the control panel of buttons and levers. Her chosen one caused a constant hum that Vlad hadn't noticed to die down, veiling the lab in complete silence. The glow of the table lessened.

Danny's stiff position seemed to settle as well, and he was finally launched into true rest instead of drug-induced unconsciousness.

The rings appeared.

In the next few seconds the silence was broken by an anguished feminine scream, but Vlad didn't bat an eyelid. He couldn't bring himself to care about his former love's despair. Not after what she had done.

Luckily most of the blood was gone, so the sight was much less gory than before. But a very human boy now laid on the table, usual white shirt covering the bandages, but still the truth was evident.

" _Danny!_ "

He whipped around and placed himself between the two shocked parents and their only son. A protective growl halted their movement forward, intense red eyes making them freeze in fear and uncertainty.

He didn't care what they felt. He didn't care how much they wanted to cradle their broken son in their arms.

Vlad turned back around, gently feeling the boy's forehead. It was warmer than usual, and clammy with sweat. The slow rise and fall of his chest had resumed, though, so the man was reassured in that sense.

Jazz had moved since the last time he saw her. She now stood in front of her parents, quietly telling them that yes, Danny was Phantom. Yes, he was half-ghost and had never been malicious.

And yes, they had hurt him beyond belief and would likely never hold his trust again.

Once Vlad was sure that things were as good as they were going to get with the Danny's condition, the boy was scooped into warm arms, the head of thick raven hair resting heavily against the man's shoulder.

He shot a distrustful look towards the two inconsolable parents, then a concerned glance at the teenage girl. She seemed to understand the question he couldn't put into words.

"I think I'll stay here. And let Sam and Tucker know." The girl replied, still obviously shaken. "I'll call to check in, okay?" Noticing his unsure and aggressive expression towards her parents, she spoke up once more. "I'll be fine. Just... _take care of him_."

He nodded once in understanding, smiling in tired appreciation before disappearing in a flash of light, taking the injured boy along with him.

* * *

Nothingness. Warmth surrounding him, and cold inside him somewhere. Though the cold wasn't as cold as he remembered.

Memories flicked through his head. Strange snippets of things he barely recalled. Laying on a table of ice. White hot blades slicing across his chest. Yelling and sobbing and silence and gentle murmurs. Wordless sounds that he heard but couldn't quite comprehend.

He remembered being woken a few times. Once to swallow a handful of pills, and again to ease over in the bed. Hearing a familiar deep voice muttering to him, only to get no response. Countless other times of blindly seeing a white ceiling and then drifting off once again.

Or were those dreams?

Was _everything_ a dream?

It hurt to move. That much he could recall. Every breath brought a sharp ache in his chest and stomach, like an enraged porcupine attempting to break free. Or like sharp, knife-like claws trying to rip their way out, over and over and over in an endless cycle.

He vaguely felt himself shift again, cringing at the harsh twinges of pain it caused. Was it morning yet? When would Jazz come badger him to wake up for school already? He hadn't heard his alarm. Maybe it was the weekend?

Gradually he felt himself become more aware. There were blankets and sheets covering him, covering up the cold. Bright light filtered into his closed eyelids, causing him to turn his head a bit.

There was silence.

Where was the sound of his father's buoyant exclamations about fudge and ghosts? And the smell of eggs and bacon (which were sometimes ectoplasm-infested sentient creatures) that his mom commonly made on Saturdays? And the clacks and whirs of new inventions, and the shouts of excitement when they seemed to function correctly?

Danny had to admit, the silence was refreshing. But what had happened to the loud, boisterous Fenton household?

He didn't flinch when a warm hand settled on his forehead. The warmth seemed to ease the pounding headache he hadn't realized he had.

It must have been his mom. That was a common thing on days she suspected he was sick.

Was he sick? He didn't feel normal. Something wasn't right, he was sure of that.

He sighed and couldn't help but want to drift off again. But the sleepy feeling was fleeting. It was time to wake up.

He let his eyes blink open, seeing the white ceiling first. With a sigh, he attempted to sit up, but grimaced when the aches flared at the movement.

" _Careful_."

Vlad's hushed voice caused him to jump in the bed, whipping his head towards the source of the sound. Just then he took note of his unfamiliar surroundings, the light purple walls and multiple tall windows.

He wasn't at his house?

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. How do you feel?"

The boy frowned at the unusually nervous, tired tone, and confusedly observed the man's strangely unkempt appearance. Usually he was all for looking prim and proper, nothing out of place.

But not today.

 _What had happened?_

Danny swallowed, just then realizing how parched his lips felt, and he laid his head back down on the pillow. "Mm. I feel... _okay_. But a little weird." He tensed when he moved his own hand to lay over his chest, feeling what seemed to be bandages. So he had gotten hurt somehow? Why did he feel so out of it?

The man responded with a low hmm, and Danny recognized that his smile of reassurance was forced. "You gave me quite a scare, there."

"Oh?" Danny muttered sleepily. "How long was I out?"

"Since Friday afternoon."

"What's today?" Danny asked, a little alarmed that he had slept for longer than he expected.

"Sunday, almost noon."

The boy raised his eyebrows in surprise. He's been out for almost three days? What could have happened to cause that? He felt an odd compelling to get out of bed, a sudden alertness that made his nerves tingle.

When Vlad noticed what the younger halfa was doing, a gentle hand made its way to his shoulder. "Just take it easy. Try not to rip your stitches."

Stitches? Oh, so he was injured, and badly it seemed. Did it have anything to do with the disturbing, dazed visions plaguing his mind?

He felt the bed jolt slightly as the man sat next to him, a steady arm helping him to sit up. The pain returned, his whole body aching at even the slow movement.

He was right before; the usual cold was all but gone, replaced with what felt like feverish warmth. He felt sick, not nauseous, but somehow not right.

"I don't feel so good." He heard himself comment, bringing a hand up to brush against his wrapped up torso.

He could hear Vlad's frown when he answered. "I'm concerned that your core might be... _damaged_. Or at least injured."

" _Damaged?_ " He couldn't keep the alarm from his voice. His ghost core, the constant ice that was present right below his heart? What had happened to it?

"Do you have any symptoms? Please tell me if there's anything that may be a problem."

"Uh... I dunno." Danny leaned into the other halfas embrace, longing to be comforted. "I feel hot. And pretty weak. And I don't think I could use my powers if I tried." He said honestly, feeling his usual supply of ecto-energy nowhere near full power. Maybe that had to do with his core, being... hurt somehow. He looked down at one hand, trying and failing to turn it invisible. He had been right; just that one attempt brought on a new wave of exhaustion that made him close his eyes, reeling from the dizziness it caused.

"Here." A cold glass of water was held by the man next to him. With a shaky hand, Danny took the glass, careful not to spill as he raised it to his lips.

He had to admit, the ice cold liquid sliding down his throat did make him feel better. The unfamiliar heat seemed to recede for a few seconds before returning.

He took a few more cautious sips before setting down the water on the nightstand and swinging his feet around to the side of the bed. Dizziness forced itself into Danny's head once more, causing him to groan and blink away the spots.

Vlad seemed to notice what he wanted to do. "Do you think you're well enough to stand?"

The boy shrugged, not entirely sure of how far he could push himself. There were some very human needs that needed to be taken care of, though, so it wasn't like he had much of a choice.

* * *

Jazz sighed, ascending the lab stairs once more into the family room. For the past few days since the incident, her parents hadn't come upstairs for anything other than eating. And they refused to talk much, either... but they did have good reason.

Being the psychiatrist she was, she was concerned for them. Maybe Danny had faced the most emotional trauma, but that didn't mean Maddie and Jack weren't also scarred from the experience.

Sam and Tucker were on their way over. Jazz had called the evening of the incident and explained what she could, leaving out most of the grusome details. So the two loyal best friends were completely up to date on their friend's condition, at least with all the knowledge Jazz had about it.

She couldn't say the same for her parents; they still hadn't heard Danny's whole story, nor were they aware of his current condition. But the orange-haired girl planned to wait until her brother had recovered, and let him explain himself. It was _his_ secret, after all.

That is, if he recovered. And if he could stand to be near his parents again.

Her thoughts were cleared by the doorbell, and without waiting to be let in the two freshmen entered their best friend's house.

Jazz looked over to them, smiling in greeting but remaining silent as she rested on the couch.

"Have you heard from Danny? Is he okay? What about-"

"Sam, slow down." The older teenager interrupted in slight amusement. "Danny's fine. I got an update yesterday."

"So he's still at Vlad's place?" The techno-geek questioned, joining the older sister on the couch shortly followed by the goth girl.

"As far as I know, yes. I was thinking we could call, right now."

At the suggestion, both of the teens' faces lit up, smiling in anticipation of hearing directly from their friend once again.

Jazz hit speed dial for the umpteenth time in the past few days and set her phone on speaker mode, the three high schoolers waiting in anticipation for an answer.

" _Uh... hello?_ " It was Danny.

"Danny!" Sam, Tucker and Jazz exclaimed simultaneously in excitement.

" _Hey, guys! It's so great to hear you again!_ "

"Same to you, dude!"

"How are you doing?"

"When will you be all the way better?"

"Slow down, you two!" Jazz couldn't hold back a laugh now that she was talking to her brother again.

The staticky voice laughed back. " _It's fine. I'm doing okay._ "

"Just okay?" Sam asked, worry laced through her voice.

" _Well I, uh, get dizzy sometimes, but things are improving. Vlad says to just give it time._ "

"How is he, by the way?"

" _Oh, the Fruitloop? He's fine._ " The boy lowered his voice. " _But he's really boring. You guys better come over soon or I'm gonna lose my mind._ "

The three heard a muffled, " _I heard that,_ " through the phone.

" _No you didn't._ " The boy responded back loudly.

Whatever Vlad's response was, it wasn't picked up by the phone. Danny snickered before turning his attention back to the phone.

" _So, how are things in Amity? And what about the ghosts?_ "

"Don't worry, we've been handling it." Tucker responded. "Skulker attacked yesterday but he hasn't come back since realizing you were gone. I guess he's after the usual." He grinned, referring to the hunters weird desire for Phantom's pelt.

"Great. _Well at least he's less likely to show up there again, I guess._ " Danny sighed. " _I'm sort of out of commission right now. My powers sort of randomly spazz out. Like, even worse than the first month._ "

"Really? Why do you think that is?" Sam asked, concern hidden in her tone.

" _Something to do with my ghost core being injured or something? The Fruitloop seems to understand it more than me._ " They could almost hear his shrug. " _I'm fine, though. It's not as bad right now as it was on Sunday. I'm feeling better every day. Hopefully I'll be all healed up soon_."

"Yeah..." said Jazz. "I sure hope so. We miss you, little brother!"

"Yeah, it's not the same without our town superhero. The news started to report on you being missing." Tucker commented, referring to Amity's news channel getting the story of a lifetime with Phantom seemingly disappearing into thin air, quite ironically for a ghost.

" _Well, hopefully I'll be able to return soon... and nothing major happens before I do._ " Danny muttered, trailing off into silence. " _Uh... how are Mom and Dad?_ " His tone noticeably become more guarded.

"They're... not the same. They've been in the lab since..." Jazz swallowed. "They're upset. And they want to fix things... they _miss you_ , Danny."

" _Oh..._ " Danny responded quietly, and the three teenagers felt pity at their friend's sadness. " _Well... tell them that... I forgive them. And that I still love them... no matter what._ "

Jazz felt tears rising to her eyes, and she held back a sob. "Okay." Sam and Tucker looked at each other, a bit uncomfortable hearing the incredibly personal family conversation.

" _I've gotta go_." The boy said simply, tone carefully disguised.

"All right, dude. Hope you feel better!"

"Keep in touch, okay Danny?" Sam pleaded.

" _I will._ " He took a shaky breath. " _Thanks for calling, you guys. Talk to you later?_ "

"Of course." The orange-haired girl blew out a breath of air she didn't realize she was holding once the line disconnected.

* * *

 _You watch me bleed until I can't breathe_

 _I'm shaking, falling onto my knees_

 _And now that I'm without your kisses_

 _I'll be needing stitches_

 _I'm tripping over myself_

 _I'm aching, begging you to come help_

 _And now that I'm without your kisses_

 _I'll be needing stitches..._

* * *

 **jeez... I feel like everything I post on this story is just plain depressing. xD I guess I save most of the happy stuff for the main series. I promise I'll try to write something more lighthearted soon.**

 **DON'T WORRY FRIENDS! A part 2 will be coming out eventually... admittedly not much happier but still, It'll go into Danny meeting his parents again and stuff. So look out for that along with happier one-shots!**

 **Anyway, as always I hope you enjoyed, and see ya next time! :)**


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